Has anyone released poisonous cleaning chemicals into the water?
- CNL Reporter
- January 24, 2025
- News
- Has anyone released poisonous cleaning chemicals into the water?
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Suspicion surrounds dozens of duck and pelican carcasses found drifting along the surface of the Beira Lake yesterday morning, which allegations lead to the release of a chemical into the water for cleaning purposes that had poisoned the water birds, the Daily Mirror learns.
A two dozen duck and pelican carcasses were found drifting on the Beira waters on Wednesday and Thursday where both the authorities and the public seemed to be baffled about the cause of death of the harmless water creatures.
Some of the carcasses that surfaced had been collected along the banks of the Colombo tourist attraction water body by the people in the area and CMC workers engaged in cleaning work.
When contacted, Commissioner Colombo Municipal Council Palitha Nanayakkara told the Daily Mirror yesterday that he too was aware about the incident but had no clue what caused the death of the birds.
When asked whether the CMC employees released any cleaning chemical to purify the stagnating lake waters, which could have poisoned the ducks as the rumour was spreading, the Commissioner denied any CMC involvement in the lake’s water content.
He said the environmental responsibility of the Beira Lake is a collective one with several government authorities involved.
“The responsibility of the water body of the Beira Lake comes under Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLRDC), whilst the basin belongs to Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). The lake banks and outer edge of the lake belong to the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the walking paths around the lake come under CMC,” Nanayakkara said.
“Therefore, it is possibly not us who had released or dumped any chemicals into the water as it is somebody else’s job. We just collect and dump the lake garbage, which had been discarded on its banks by the others,” he said.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the Urban Development Authority on account of anonymity told the Daily Mirror that they found the duck carcasses around the area, when they visited the lake to look into the repairs of the hanging bridge to the islet near the Gangaramaya Seema Malaka yesterday morning.
The official said when inquired from two labourers in the area have learnt that a group of persons believed to be from the CMC had come to the lake on Wednesday and had released a chemical for water purification purposes.
When contacted, Senior Veterinary of the Western Province Rehabilitation Centre of the Department of Wildlife Conservation Dr. Suhada Jayawardena said they are yet to be alerted by any of the aforesaid authorities about the duck carcasses.
“To get an idea about the cause of death of the birds, we need to run a postmortem of a carcass and we will take steps to collect them at our earliest,” Dr. Jayawardena said.
The Beira Lake was in the centre of controversy for the past few weeks as the stagnating water with thick layer of algae and garbage spreading an unpleasant odour has not been looked into by any authority.
